DAVENPORT, Iowa — Shaking hands with political donors, speaking directly with voters and forging potential allies are all on the docket for Gov. Chris Christie in Iowa today.

New Jersey’s governor has a full day ahead of him after landing this morning in Iowa, which holds the nation’s first presidential caucus. Christie, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, is campaigning with the state’s five-term governor, Terry Branstad.

According to his schedule, Christie will headline an RGA fundraiser breakfast in Waukee before attending a separate fundraising for Iowa’s House speaker.

The governor is then expected to rub elbows with voters in Marion at a restaurant before headlining "An Evening at the Fair" with Branstad in Davenport.

Christie, a potential 2016 Republican contender, has vowed to travel the country on behalf of the RGA — which raises money for GOP gubernatorial races around the nation — in an effort to elect fellow Republicans to as many governor mansions as possible this November.

As recently as last month, the governor dismissed suggestions that travel to states such as Iowa — which are on every potential presidential candidate’s to-do list — has anything to do with a run-up to the 2016 White House race.

Last month, he brushed off such talk when he visited the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state of New Hampshire, saying he’s dealt with such "every time I’ve come to New Hampshire" — five times now since becoming governor.

In Iowa, Christie will be campaigning for a candiate already in a strong position to win another term. A recent Marist Poll gave Branstad a 53-38 percent lead over Democrat Jack Hatch.

As for presidential politics, a recent Iowa poll found Christie is reemerging as a top contender months after a similar survey showed he’d slipped in a matchup against Democrat Hillary Clinton, in the wake of the George Washington Bridge lane closure controversy.

Christie trailed Clinton in a presidential matchup 44-36 percent, according to the June Quinnipiac University poll. Three months earlier, the poll found Clinton leading Christie 48-35 percent.